Young Male Masculinity - What A Girl Wants?

Interesting stuff, especially the admission that men are confused about what women want because they are confused about what they want. Which makes me thankful to be older and dating a woman who knows what she wants.

As a college girl, I am unsurprisingly completely intrigued by the behavior of boys. I read this recent article in USA Today (we linked to it in yesterday's Essentials) hoping that I would gain some sort of insight into the male psyche. I finished the article even more confused, mostly because men themselves don't even have it straight. Are they sensitive, caring, and readily available to fall in love? Or are they masculine, tough, and only interested in beer and sex?

I think one of the reasons that men are so conflicted as to how they're "supposed" to act is because women - and I'm speaking on behalf of my friends, my acquaintances, and yes, myself - don't know how they want men to act. They want someone to be sensitive, but they also want a tough guy who will throw a few punches for the sake of pride. They want someone who can knock back a few (um, dozen?) beers without forgetting his name, and who will be as up for going out as he is for kicking back and catching a chick flick.

What is the confusion about? Guys can't figure out that they should be well-rounded, emotional-but-masculine, strong-but-sensitive individuals? Isn't the pretty-and-intelligent, capable-but-needing of help dichotomy of female behavior expected? What gentleman wants to date a girl he can't take home to mom? Or a girl that he can't take to a kegger? I hate to be harsh, but what this article says to me is that guys are too immature to know that there's a time and place for everything, and now "not knowing what society expects" is yet another excuse not to grow up.